Ashamed of my beauty product hoard!

[IPokeBadgers]

I have spent some time this morning trying to sort and tidy my beauty and toiletries cupboard and I am actually feeling very and at the sheer volume of stuff that I have, much of it lovely and expensive and unopened!

I reckon it could take me a couple of years to get through it all!

Buying make up as well as lovely bath and shower stuff seems to have become my go to/default pick me up when I want to impulse buy...... but seeing the hoard has brought me down.

anyone else like this and are there any threads that would encourage me to stop buying stuff and use all the lovely products that I have?

please tell me I am not the only person like this?

Frugal, that sounds horrendous. I've no idea why cosmetic companies jack up their prices so much, I guess the market is less competitive here so they just can. When Sephora opened in Sydney recently there was outrage over the prices (as they'd initially promised they'd match U.S. prices, but then clearly chickened out).

Liking the sound of your Urban Decay lip liner by the way, I don't have an invisible one in my collection. Not that I need any more excuses to buy makeup!

You all know that make up goes off don't you? The majority of it lasts somewhere between 12 & 24 months so most of your collections will be really really bad for your skin to use now?

I have had very few experiences of makeup ever going off (if the smell or consistency changes, I discard the product, but that is rare). I have never had an infection or irritation when using old products, but lots of issues with new products I haven't tried before because I'm allergic to a common cosmetics ingredient (Clinique, Dior and Maybelline are off limits for me). This makes me a bit conservative - but I do not hoard mascaras

Maybe shelf life is an issue with natural plant-based makeup (my bottle of almond oil went stale quickly and I will not repurchase) but cosmetics preservatives seem really effective - scarily so. Vitamin E is a common one.

Lots of my unused things are powdery consistency - they stay good almost forever, but I keep my brushes very clean.

By all means discard all products every three months. I just can't do it This is why hoarders need a support thread

Haha fair enough Frugal just thought I throw it out there in case any of you actually were unaware that make up has a use by
I had an awful experience with an out of date fake tan once so I'm quick to tell anyone to learn from my mistakes

Thanks for the advice, BlueBananas, though I think a bunch of people who love beauty products so much that they have a big hoard probably already are aware of this.

I've not had much problem with products going off. I keep my brushes clean and store products in a cool dark room. I replace mascaras regularly, I'm careful with cream and liquid products and have had a few lipsticks and glosses go smelly and foundations that start to look weird so I've chucked them out, but powder products (which form the bulk of my collection) last a long time.

My theory is that the recommended expiry dates are largely done by manufacturers as a disclaimer to reduce their liability if anyone did have a problem using an old product.

Oops sorry BlueBananas, x-post.

Please ignore any sarcasm in my previous post

Zachary, awesome, I had thought hqhair did not ship Nars here so good to know that they do

Sorry Bananas about sounding so defensive - your experience sounds really nasty and I understand why you want to warn others!

And I need a 12-step program

I wonder if some of the use by dates given for body lotions, butters etc may be for the fragrances? I opened some that I was given a couple of years ago and although the consistency of the products is fine they don't seem to have any fragrance.

Don't worry no offence taken
I'll but out now and leave you to your minimising mission
Good luck

An empty today: a huge 500ml bottle of hair conditioner that has been cluttering up our shower for at least a couple of years. It was by Wella, a decent product, but I prefer minute amounts of Aveda Rosemary & Mint these days so no new purchases necessary!

I fell off the wagon. Bought two jumbo lip pencils yesterday - they were cheap as chips, I'd never tried that brand, I'm staying at my folks and forgot my lipstick - the usual rationales!

Feel quite annoyed with myself!

I fell off the wagon too. I succumbed to the Body Shop 40% off offer to buy shampoo, lipsalve with spf, facewash and exfoliator. I don't feel too guilty because I didn't have spares of any of these. I avoided my weakness for shower gel and body butter - I must have enough of those to last me for decades.

Some stuff I bought from lush and was saving for "best" (3 years!) had gone off when I opened it last week . I ended up throwing it away. Nothing else so far though.

Annoyingly I've had to buy some stuff this week - I'm nearly out of clarins moisturiser (the only stuff that's worked for me recently) and bare minerals make up. Slowly working my way through the rest though...

I've managed to stay on the wagon! It's hard though. Watching YouTube for pan that palette videos is helping.

Another empty here - Elemis frangipani body cream - good timing as we have sunbathing weather here now so I'll go on to Gatineau tan accelerator instead

If anyone is planning to come to the Algarve this year they can have a full set of hardly used bare minerals stuff inc mineral veil, well rested etc I just can't be bothered with the tap and swirl, too much of a faff when I can get a better result with Laura geller balance n brighten

i have a personally imposed embargo on:
facial cleansers
facial exfoliators
eye shadows
nail polishes
i stopped buying these a couple of years ago and still have quite a bit to get through.
i had to become ruthless.
could you give away any of the stuff you are tired of to family or friends?
i did this and it helped a lot.

I spent a whole hour in the centr of Glasgow yesterday, alone waiting for someone. I walked past frasers beauty hall, space nk and molton brown. How good am I.

I did indulge slightly in body shop but that doesn't count as it was tea tree skin products for dd2 which she needed. It scratched my itch for me though.

Love this thread! Well done everyone finishing things off?

With our love of beauty & urge to pan those products please can we be the new Pan'sPeople?!

That's supposed to be a !, not a ?

Tired friday!

Wow I'm impressed how people here have been able to resist temptations!

And if you have had a wobble, don't feel too bad. I think we hoard cosmetics for many different reasons - and most of those reasons make sense when put in context. Changing longstanding patterns is not easy... But I do believe that paying attention and being able to talk about his helps. Laughing is even better

I realized in a flash why I hoard cosmetics. We have moved at least 8 times in the past 15 years. I've lived in many different countries.

40% off in body shop....oh dear

Help Me! Oh God, I want Bobbi Brown Extra SPF 25 Tinted Moisturising Balm. Had a sample. Have stopped wearing traditional foundation as it just ages me now. This balm stuff is glowy and lovely. Intervention needed!. Someone talk me out of it....its £36 FFS!

Breathe...
Take a power pause
Earn it by using something up/trading/gifting something?
It will feel even lovelier if you are rewarding good behavior...

Okaayy.... I think the crisis has passed, for now. Thing is, at this point, I actually believe that this one product, and only this, will bring everything right in my world. It's not called Holy Grail for nothing!

YA talked me down Frugal. Stand at ease, soldier.